Ever face a suspicious, haughty or "who cares?" audience?
Here are some speech openers that help neutralize arrogance,
indifference and hostility, from Brad Phillips' excellent
new book, 101 Ways to Open a Speech.

1. Be counterintuitive. Start by stating something most
people agree with, then claim the opposite is true, and
then give your reasons why.

2. Use a cliffhanger. Introduce a portion of a point or
story that you promise to finish later in your talk.

3. Invite fantasy. Describe a scenario that's personally
relevant to audience members in such a way that they
experience your idea in their imagination.

4. Quiz them. Challenge audience members to answer a few
difficult questions that relate to your overall theme.

5. Cite that week's news. Prove the relevance of your topic
by referring to events or studies reported in newspapers in
the last several days.

6. Poll them. Use technology provided in webinars and some
live venues to ask the audience about their experiences or
views, then share the numbers. This requires an unexpected
yet intriguing question or two.

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